#14 Starspire – YA

When a tower to rival the Empire State Building appears on the fairgrounds overnight, no one suspects that a teen boy is responsible. When Tyson was two, he swallowed a gem that fell from the heavens and now some of his dreams become reality while others fade.

After many disastrous incidents in Tyson’s childhood, Tyson’s parents keep him home-schooled and away from the world. Tyson, however, pleads to be taken to the carnival for his birthday to see Markus Zauber, the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Magician in the World’, and they finally give in. When Markus can’t even pull a rabbit out of a hat, Tyson falls asleep in the dark tent and dreams about the wizard he wishes Markus were. Suddenly, a new, improved version of Markus appears on stage and casts a powerful sleeping spell on Tyson to keep him dreaming forever.

As a result of the wizard’s magic, Tyson’s dreams are contained in one place and form an growing tower in which a separate dream forms each floor. His parents enter the tower, bent on awakening and rescuing their son. As soon as they set foot in the tower, however, they revert to teenage versions of themselves and soon discover that the dreams of their son are a dangerous place to be. The wizard knows he will lose his power the moment Tyson wakes and does everything he can to make sure that each of Tyson’s dreams will be darker than the last.